Price: £24.00

All-silk Long-Sleeved Baby-body

by Alkena Silk

A soft, warm underlayer in organic Bourette silk. Silk is excellent next to the skin and your little one will be kept comfortable throughout the day. Bourette silk has a natural, earthy, slightly knobbly texture in contrast to filament silk. This gives it good warmth for its very light weight and it is still soft on the skin.

gentle and healthy for sensitive skin

100% certified organic Bourette silk, with nickel-free poppers

cool in summer and warm in winter - silk is insulating and breathable

These bodies are very generous across the chest, tummy and bottom but average in length. We have translated from the continental sizing into British sizing as follows.

56/62: 0-3m

68cm: 3-6m

80cm: 6-12m

92cm: 12-24m

It may help to know that the average UK 2-year-old is 86cm tall.

This silk is 100% organic biodynamically cultivated mulberry bourette silk. It is organically certified by IMO to GOTS standards.

Bourette silk has a natural, earthy, slightly knobbly texture in contrast to filament silk. This gives it good warmth for its very light weight and it is still soft on the skin.

The mulberry leaves which form the diet of the Bombix Mori silkworm are organically grown, and the combination of the high-quality diet, the best silkworm and traditional community skills creates excellent silk. All silk is excellent for the skin - it's gentle, insulating and breathable, and known for generations and across cultures as the ideal next-to-the-skin layer.

This silk is "bourette" silk which is a spun silk. It does not have the silky-smooth shiny quality of
filament silk (we also have filament silk clothes for your family). Bourette silk has a more
"earthy" feel and texture, often described as rustic with a subtle sheen. After the finest silk is harvested, the bits that remain are collected, combed and spun together into a the Bourette silk fibre. Bourette silk is often used for women's clothes and baby clothes, as it has a lovely texture and is good for the skin.

The silk of this garment is not only organic but biodynamic silk. A Demeter advisor worked with the group researching compost, plant-based preparations and efficient management following biodynamic guidelines and the projects have been very successful.

We also value the emphasis the Sichuan Alkena projects have placed on community and social responsibility. For example, fixed prices and supply contracts are in place to avoid exploitation and ensure stability. The organically-grown mulberry bushes flourish on less productive land, and so the business brought in by the project brings economic benefits without displacing land set aside for
food crops. Environmentally, the project is encouraging biodiversity and has already planted hundreds of fruit trees and over 5000 other trees alongside the mulberry bushes.

So this silk is not only high quality, nurturing and healthy for your skin, but is making a positive difference in the world.

Silk naturally refreshes itself when aired as it releases dirt and odours easily.Hang to air then wear again. Only wash when really necessary.

When you need to wash your garment, either hand wash or machine wash as explained below:

either hand wash: at no higher than 30C (feels lukewarm to the touch)

or machine wash: on a gentle cycle at no higher than 30C with a detergent designed for silk

In both cases:

use a detergent designed for silk

do NOT tumble-dry

wrap your silk garment in a towel and gently squeeze out excess water

hang to dry out of direct sunlight

gently reshape whilst damp

About silk-friendly detergents: we recommend using a PH-neutral detergent designed to protect silk's natural oils. Just like the liquid shampoos in our fabric care section.

Alkena is a Swiss company who have set up a biodynamic regeneration project, near ChengDu in China. Doing so, they brought traditional silk-making skills back to the region. We were very excited to discover this positive work and the very high quality silk clothing coming from it. The silk is organic silk certified by IMO.

Silk is excellent for the skin - it's gentle, insulating and breathable and has been used for generations and across cultures as the ideal next-to-the-skin layer and Alkena's organic mulberry silk is simply the best.
Moreover, the poppers used by Alkena are nickel-free!

Find out more about Alkena and its impact on the region where the silk is grown, read our Alkena blog post.

All-silk Long-Sleeved Baby-body

£24.00

"We bought this for my son who has bad eczema. It was good to know that the silk didn’t irritate his skin and he seemed to find it soothing to wear when his eczema was at its worst. Since it’s white it goes with everything. It needs to be washed on a delicate wash, we did find it was quite delicate."

A soft, warm underlayer in organic Bourette silk. Silk is excellent next to the skin and your little one will be kept comfortable throughout the day. Bourette silk has a natural, earthy, slightly knobbly texture in contrast to filament silk. This gives it good warmth for its very light weight and it is still soft on the skin.

gentle and healthy for sensitive skin

100% certified organic Bourette silk, with nickel-free poppers

cool in summer and warm in winter - silk is insulating and breathable

SizingThese bodies are very generous across the chest, tummy and bottom but average in length. We have translated from the continental sizing into British sizing as follows.